MARKING THE 70TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ATOMIC BOMBINGS OF HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI (Scholarships available)

Join us for this national gathering marking the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and offer Campaign of Non-Violence promoters and others with significant opportunities to deepen the vision and practice of nonviolent change.

Social Action & Science

Being With DyingThis Professional Training Program for Clinicians in Compassionate Care of the Seriously Ill and Dying is fostering a revolution in care of the dying and seriously ill. Clinicians learn essential tools for taking care of dying people with skill and compassion.

ChaplaincyA visionary and comprehensive two-year program for a new kind of chaplaincy to serve individuals, communities, the environment, and the world.

As I close up my last days as a resident of Upaya, I reflect on the past year and some of the highlights of living in a practice community: overnight trips with fellow residents to explore the beauty of New Mexico, deep silence sitting sesshin, getting to know myself and others through council and “meditative […]

n the 1960s, the Reverend James Lawson organized and led one of the most effective campaigns of nonviolent civil resistance in the 20th century: the Nashville lunch counter sit-ins for the US Civil Rights Movement.

TO LISTEN TO THIS PODCAST please enter or confirm your email address below:

To listen to the free dharma talks on this site, we'd like to invite you to our mailing list.
After entering your email, this page will reload, and you will have instant and unlimited access to the hundreds of dharma podcasts on this site.

Episode Description: Kaz explains his notions of “joy density” and “de-aging” and describes their practical application among dying people in his Circle Project. He has an equation: positive lifespan = time x joy density. Because, whereas our lifespan per se has a definite limit, can we find a limit, in any moment, to how much joy, kindness, […]

TO LISTEN TO THIS PODCAST please enter or confirm your email address below:

To listen to the free dharma talks on this site, we'd like to invite you to our mailing list.
After entering your email, this page will reload, and you will have instant and unlimited access to the hundreds of dharma podcasts on this site.

The 4 part series Circle of the Way Sesshin is now published. You can access the desired part of the series by clicking on its link below: Forgetting the Self is Openness (Circle of the Way Sesshin Part 1 – also a Public Dharma Talk) Full Circle (Circle of the Way Sesshin Part 2) Enlightened all the Way […]

TO LISTEN TO THIS PODCAST please enter or confirm your email address below:

To listen to the free dharma talks on this site, we'd like to invite you to our mailing list.
After entering your email, this page will reload, and you will have instant and unlimited access to the hundreds of dharma podcasts on this site.

Episode Description: It’s natural that self-centered concerns should preoccupy us when we first sit down to meditate — after all, we live in the neighborhood of our body and mind all day. But as we settle, an abiding dimension of life comes into view: where the distinctions between big and small, self and other, momentary and […]

TO LISTEN TO THIS PODCAST please enter or confirm your email address below:

To listen to the free dharma talks on this site, we'd like to invite you to our mailing list.
After entering your email, this page will reload, and you will have instant and unlimited access to the hundreds of dharma podcasts on this site.

Episode Description: Kaz explores the Soto Zen understanding of “enlightenment,” as well as its Rinzai counterpart. He narrates how Dogen’s “circle of the way” was a crucial formula of this understanding in the 20th century rediscovery of Dogen (a good story!). He illuminates some other familiar Zen translation choices, like “practice”, and endorses the subtle power of […]

TO LISTEN TO THIS PODCAST please enter or confirm your email address below:

To listen to the free dharma talks on this site, we'd like to invite you to our mailing list.
After entering your email, this page will reload, and you will have instant and unlimited access to the hundreds of dharma podcasts on this site.

Episode Description: In a well-rounded talk, Kaz contemplates the circle as a symbol of enlightenment. He traces its history from India to Japan — the full moon; the not-quite-round enso, which expresses a painter’s state of being honestly and completely instead of in a rigid perfection. He recalls his friendship with Suzuki Roshi, who drew a circle […]

This reflection on Frank and Roshi’s teaching at Upaya last year was written by Amy Conway, Cohort 7 candidate in Upaya’s Chaplaincy Training Program. Read Part One of this reflection here. How do we learn to be of service to the dying? Frank emphasized that we already know deep inside how to do this work. […]

As a leading scholar on the history of Japanese Zen Buddhism and the life and works of Dogen, Steven Heine will bring his unique perspective to the dialogue at this week’s Dogen Seminar. Join scholar Steven Heine, PhD, Roshi Joan Halifax, PhD, Sensei Kazuaki Tanahashi, and Natalie Goldberg this weekend July 24—26, 2015 for this year’s DOGEN SEMINAR: […]

This reflection on Frank and Roshi’s teaching, was written by Amy Conway, Cohort 7 candidate in Upaya’s Chaplaincy Training Program. “There is endless suffering in this world. There is also endless compassion.” This was one of many powerful statements made by Frank Ostaseski and Roshi Joan Halifax at the Contemplative Practices and Rituals in Service […]